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Stories in this issue:
- The 2022 Summer Session is Complete
- A Recap of Fork Union's Summer Camps
- A Message from Sage Dining
- Upcoming Admissions Events
- An Alumni Spotlight: Lauren Mercado '06 gifts FUMA with 360 Panoramic + Interior 3D Virtual Tour
- Announcements for the 2022-2023 Academic Year
The 2022 Summer School Session is Complete!
Fork Union Military Academy welcomed students to campus for the 2022 Summer School Session on July 10. For four-straight weeks from Monday through Saturday, the boys enjoyed a full day of class with a fun afternoon break of athletics. After their daily assembly/chapel session in the evenings, the boys wind down with a nightly study hall to end the day. The Academy offers classes for repeat credit to improve the student's grade, as well as advanced courses for students seeking to build a highly competitive college admission portfolio.
Summer School Tours the Nation's Capital
On the second Saturday of the Summer School Session, our students were treated to a special field trip to Washington, DC, that included visiting the memorials on the National Mall and exploring the museums of the Smithsonian Institution. The trip's theme was "e pluribus unum"- meaning, "out of many one." All students wrote essays about what they learned, and the winning essay author earned a pizza party for his class.
Congratulations to John Clarke for winning the essay challenge! He was selected by Dr. James Benson and Ms. Kelsey Hill, the Academy's College Placement & Academic Counselors.
Below are a few photos from the trip. Click the link below to view the entire photo gallery.
The Annual Presidential Coin Toss
The Annual President's Coin Toss has become a popular event for summer school students in the pool on campus, as the special FUMA President's challenge coins were tossed into the pool for the students to jump in and find during the second week of the summer session. Twenty students each came up with a coin and were declared the winners. We will do this again in the new school year on October 15, Founders Day, and we will begin looking forward to our upcoming 125th Anniversary year the following year when there will be an 1898 silver dollar and other special coins mixed in with the President's challenge coins.
Below are a few photos from the challenge. Click the link below to view the entire photo gallery.
Dr. Cichocki's Algebra II Class Launch Rockets
Dr. Cichocki's Algebra II class launched rockets this past Wednesday on the Academy's football field. Students Elan Warll and Emerson Smith submitted essays explaining their experience.
On August 3rd, my Algebra II class launched our rockets that we had built and decorated throughout the summer session. We had been learning algebra in class and have watched three movies on how mathematics contributes towards NASA space launching. We first watched October Sky, which shows a group of teenagers experimenting with rockets and using math to help with their launches. We then watched Hidden Figures where three African American women helped launch the first man to orbit the earth by using mathematics. The last movie we watched was Appolo 13. The movie shows the first mission to the moon and how mathematics contributed towards the mission.So, on the final day of class, we set up our own rockets and launched them. You can see how many problems can occur during a simple launch and how one mistake can mess the entire mission up.
By: Elan Warll
When the space race against the USSR was taking place during the middle of the 20th century, NASA had mathematicians doing precise calculations in order to ensure safe missions. Much of the math we have learned was displayed in the three movies we had the privilege to watch during our time in Algebra II: October Sky, Hidden Figures, and Apollo 13. Coordinates and many other calculations had to be spot on in order for astronauts to be safe. We then built our own rockets and got to launch them. Math wasn't really involved then, but we still were able to see what the process of a launch was like. Seeing them take off and ascend hundreds of feet in the air was quite the sight. There were examples of formulas and other things which we learned that were on display in the movies. That, as well as our own rocket launches, really showed how the math we studied, the NASA missions, and our rockets were all connected.
By: Emerson Smith
Below are a few photos from the launch. Click the link below to view the entire photo gallery.
SAGE Dining Hosts Cookout for Final Dinner of Summer School
SAGE Dining, our beloved dining service who provides delicious meals each day, held a cookout for the final dinner of the summer session for our students at Pruitt Lake. The boys enjoyed hamburgers, hotdogs, pasta salad, chips and refreshing drinks on a beautiful evening down by the lake.
Staff and faculty gathered as well to say their goodbyes to our lovely summer school students. Below are a few photos from the cookout. Click the link below to view the entire photo gallery.
A Recap of Fork Union's Summer Camps
In July, we wrapped up the 37th annual Fork Union Basketball School. The Academy welcomed 68 campers on Sunday, July 17, who enjoyed four days packed with learning the fundamentals of basketball, while making new friends and memories! In his first year, head postgraduate basketball coach Bob Williams did a fantastic job running the camp operations.
On the weekend after Father's Day, Fork Union Military Academy hosted 16 father-son pairs for the fourth annual Father-Son Weekend. Throughout the three days, fathers and sons from all around the east coast experienced a fun-filled weekend of cookouts, fishing, sports, woodworking and rifle shooting!
On the second weekend of June, Fork Union Military Academy hosted its fourth-annual Football, Strength & Speed Camp. We welcomed 60 campers to campus, and they enjoyed three days of football and strength instruction by head postgraduate football coach Frank Arritt and head prep football coach Mark Shuman.
Dates are set for Summer 2023! Click the links to learn more about Basketball School, Football, Strength & Speed Camp and Father-Son Weekend.
SAGE Dining Welcomes New & Returning Families to FUMA!
SAGE Dining would like to welcome new enrolling families and returners to campus and are excited for another delicious and exciting year! SAGE Dining provides our campus with delicious and healthy meals throughout the school year.
Menu Items
SAGE Dining provides a daily menu that will feature community favorites, the latest culinary trends, and lots of variety to please all palates and meet a range of dietary needs. You'll enjoy: hot entrees and comfort foods, build-your-own salads, sandwiches with house-roasted meats, house-made soups, allergy-friendly choices, authentic international cuisine, fun food truck-inspired dishes, vegetarian and vegan options, build-your-own stations and display cooking, and special selections for athletes and physically active students!
Your online menu will allow you to see menu items by category, such as entrees, salads, desserts, and specials, or by station, including The Main Ingredient, Improvisations, The Stock Exchange, and more. You can also view your entire menu for the week.
Take a look in advance so you'll know where to go when you get to the dining hall and build a plate you'll really enjoy!
Nutritional Guidance
SAGE's nutrition philosophy is All Food Fits!
- Food supports physical, social, emotional, mental, and cultural well-being - which support overall health.
- SAGE Spotlight Program focuses on creating a positive relationship with food and guides community members on building nutritionally balanced plates.
- Each menu item is marked with a Spotlight to show how nutrient dense that food is, based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Foods higher in nutrient density contain more of the nutrition the body needs to function.
You may notice that the SAGE Spotlight Program Spotlight colors have changed. Instead of green, yellow, and red, you'll now see three varying shades of green on menus online and in the dining hall as well as in the Touch of SAGE® Mobile App. Menu items are assigned a Spotlight color based on its nutrient density. The green Spotlights serve as reminder that All Foods Fit!
Sustainability
On average, 40% of SAGE's purchases are manufactured, produced, or grown within 150 miles of Fork Union Military Academy. SAGE partners with our community to develop innovative solutions that benefit people and the planet. This includes teaming up with eco-friendly vendors and farmers as well as helping reduce food waste through the U+SAGE program.
Using the Touch of SAGE Mobile App
One of the main ways you can view the SAGE menu and connect with SAGE is through the Touch of SAGE Mobile App. You can create a custom allergen profile, rate and give comments on menu items, connect with our SAGE Manager, and more!
Download the app in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, create an account, and use Fork Union's ZIP or postal code (23055) to find our location. Check out this video for more information.
Fall Enrollment Information
If you have a cadet enrolling in the fall, please make sure you all everything complete prior to the fall enrollment dates. Below are the dates for fall enrollment check-in. Keep in mind that August 22 is by invitation only by the Commandants Department.
- Monday, August 15 - Prep Football & Postgraduate Football Check-In
- Monday, August 22 - Cadet Leadership Training Check-In (*this is by invitation only*)
- Monday, August 29 - All New Cadets & Postgraduate Basketball Check-In
- Monday, September 5 - All Other Returning Cadets
The first academic day of Term 1 is Tuesday, September 6, 2022.
More specific information has been emailed. If you have any questions, please contact the Admissions Office at 434-842-4205 or admissions@fuma.org.
Upcoming Admissions Events
The best way to learn about Fork Union Military Academy is to schedule an appointment with our Admissions Office and come for a family visit and receive your own individual tour of the campus.
We also schedule a number of Admissions Fairs in various cities and regions throughout the year. The available spaces at our upcoming admissions events have been filling up quickly with our Fairfax, VA admissions events.
Saturday, November 19 -- Admissions Fair in Fairfax, VA
- Meet with our admissions staff at an Admissions Fair on Saturday, November 19th, from 9 AM to 1 PM at the Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks.
Saturday, December 10 -- Admissions Fair in Fairfax, VA
- Meet with our admissions staff at an Admissions Fair on Saturday, December 10th, from 9 AM to 1 PM at the Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks.
Alumni Spotlight:
Lauren Mercado '06 gifts FUMA with 360 Panoramic + Interior 3D Virtual Tour
Fork Union Military Academy is excited to announce the completion of its 360 Panoramic + Interior 3D Virtual Tour that was gifted by 2006 alumnus Lauren Mercado this past academic year.
Mercado is the Chief Operations Officer at Virtual Asset Management Global, who states that Fork Union Military Academy will always be a special place for him. He reached out to the Academy in October of 2021 about donating his company’s time for creating a 360 panoramic virtual tour for the Academy.
This past year, Mercado and his team of Islam ‘Izzy’ Mohamed and Abdul Mohamed visited campus on the 27th and 28th of November, scanning and capturing the entire campus. When the Academy’s website received a redesign in March, the virtual tour was up and running.
Virtual Asset Management (VAM) Global is located in Panama City, Panama and is a leader in AEC Digital Twin Solutions with a focus on Matterport capture, 3D drone mapping, as-built modeling, and other cutting edge 3D capture services. Its On-Sight PPM tool allows you to explore your virtual assets like never before, using any device, from anywhere in the world.
To visit VAM Global, click here.
Do you want to be a part of our Cadet Corps?
Are you a young man in the 7th to 12th grade? Do you want to be a man known for integrity, respect for yourself and others, faith, character, and discipline?
We encourage you to fill out an application for enrollment and join our cadets here at Fork Union Military Academy.
Thank you!
Credits:
Kristin Firewicz